Been wanting to post this for a long while but so often I send folks whome I have just met here to see 'what I am about' and I didnt want them to know about the 'unspeakable'.
K- well I am over that. So here is the deal. Over a year ago I learned about cloth rags on a Yahoo posting group. Some ladies were making them and provided links to a pattern. 
Well- I decided to go for it. I made myself a set- plently for a week. I bought all the flannel from the remnent section at Walmart and JoAnns. If I recall I spent around $15 for everything including the crib liner for the waterproof backing. Guess thats about what it costs for 2 months worth of disposable pads. 
I used the pattern from the web site. Just did a simple zig zag stitch around the edges and added staps. I revised the pattern to make extra long night time pads too. With each of the covers comes two inserts- one of 5 layers of flannel and one of 4 flannel and one crib liner (super thin fabric sandwiching a thin plastic). You can put in both inserts for heavy days or just the lined one for light days. The snap under the undwear in the style of a pad with wings. The flannel kind of grabs the cotton underwear so they stay in place fine.
To avoid staining you just chuck them in a bucket of cold water to soak before washing. I pin them out to dry. If there is any staining on my white covers I just leave them on the line for a few days and the sun bleaches them for me. As for leaking. No probs there. The water backing on the bottom insert keeps everything neat and tidy.
I have used them for more than a year and I love them! Obviously they are not too wierd. Our grandmothers were using cloth. There weren't even disposables till what- the 60s? Its just that no one wants to talk about these things. I am here to say that I am tellin and talking.
I figure I have saved around 500 pads from going to the land fill this yr alone. I have personally contributed as many as 11,000 non-biodegradable rags to the land fill since I was 13. Thats just ME! The cloth rags should last about 5 + yrs without replacement.
My enthusiasm for my cloth pads led Vayda to want a set, then Elanee. So now our house has gone totally cloth! That'll save our household around $270 a yr. Hows that for amazing!?! My dear friend (who shall remain nameless for her own comfort) and I bartered a set of cloth pads for a set of silk screened T shirts so she is officially cloth too. I have also met one teen and two adults friends who use cloth. Beyond being helpful to the environment and to the wallet they are helpful to our health. Vayda is proof of that. She has a bleach allergy and these pads have made her life more comfortable.
Please take the time to look up cloth menstral pads on the internet. There are places to buy them made and places to help with the making of them if you are up to it.
4 comments:
Hi, I have recently started using cloth pads. I became allergic to store-bought pads after my daughter was born--who knows, pregnancy does weird things to a person. :-) Anyhow, I have been totally scared to tell anybody! Even though I have a friend who is also allergic to most store-bought pads, I just can't bring myself to tell her. I find that their are more and more people going to them though. I enjoyed your post.
I use cloth too, so now you have 3 friends. :-) I also use a Diva cup, something else you can look into that is "unspeakable."
Sue, your southern neighbor...
My teenager, the one you probably mentioned in your blog post, who used to hang out at your house, uses cloth pads. We buy them on etsy.
I'd like to get her to make them. We have a pattern. But the sewing machine collects dust.
BEst way to go.
I'm going to transition too.
I find when my diet is clean, meat free that is and no junk then my bleeding is minimal.
The reality is that we don't need to hemmorhage to go thru menses. the food is giving us heavybleeding and cancer. Plus tampons have RAYON in them which make my cycle actual worse both in pain and bleeding.
Thanks for sharing
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